Friday, February 14, 2014

Armed and Famous - Jennifer Morey (HRS #1789 - Feb 2014)

Experience has taught bounty hunter Lincoln Ivy when
someone is in trouble. He's fairly sure the gorgeous redhead next door has a
dangerous secret. And the moment she's visited by a mysterious gunman
threatening her life, Lincoln's suspicions are confirmed.

When Remy Lang is almost kidnapped and Lincoln comes to
her rescue, she's reluctant to let him help her. She's gotten herself into a
terrifying situation and doesn't want to risk another person. But as Lincoln
proves himself time and time again as a skilled protector, she can't push him
away...or the attraction building between them.

Okay book. The mystery part of it is pretty good. Remy has gotten herself into trouble with an arms dealer. She stumbled on what was happening while dating an executive with the company. When that man was murdered, she was framed for it and ran with the help of another worker. That man turned out to be one of the baddies and was threatening her when Linc intervened. Together they worked to find out who was behind it and shut him down. There was an extra twist to the reasons she was involved with that company to start with that came out in the end.

The problem I had with the book was with the characters. I really don't mind having a hero/heroine with baggage that has to be overcome, but these two were really weighted down with it. Remy has really big issues with trust. She has been hurt in the past by men who turned out to be scum, most notably the man she thought she loved who turned out to be married. She has a whole routine of things she asks potential boyfriends about, and keeps herself at an emotional distance until she feels comfortable with their worthiness. When she meets Linc, it's because her dog keeps escaping her yard and going to his. She's attracted to him but because she's on the run she doesn't want to get involved. Plus, she isn't sure about trusting him. When he comes to her rescue she tries to get him to leave her alone because she doesn't want to involve him in her troubles, but he ends up involved anyway. She doesn't know if she can trust him with all her secrets, but she does know that he can keep her safe. I also didn't care for the fact that she only gave him a little bit of information at a time, and only when she didn't have any other choice. She starts to fall for him, but those trust issues of hers keep her looking for reasons that they would never work out together. I wasn't sure, even at the end, if she could ever let go of those issues.

Linc is the oldest of the eight Ivy kids. In spite of his parents' fame, he prefers to work for a living. He is a martial arts instructor and a bounty hunter. He got into the bounty hunter job after the death of the woman he loved in a drive by shooting. Years later he is still grieving for her and feeling guilty that he hadn't saved her. All this ties into his need to protect and help people who are in trouble. He suspects that Remy is in trouble from the moment he met her. His rescue of her from the gunman puts him right in the middle of her troubles. He is determined to help her and ignores her attempts to push him away. He is also attracted to her, but tries to resist because he still feels tied to his dead girlfriend. It was interesting to see how Remy got him to talk about it, knowing that he needed to be able to move on if he were ever to have a normal life. He is also frustrated by her secretiveness and the way she holds herself apart. I did enjoy seeing him really listen to what she had to say about letting go of his past and how it opened him up to letting her all the way in.

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About Me

My name is Susan and I live in Ostfildern, Germany. I have 2 children: Alan, 32 and Beth, 30, and one granddaughter, Evie. My husband and I have been married for 34 years. I worked part-time at Borders Books, which is a dangerous place for a bookaholic to work. It may explain why I have more than 400 books on my TBR bookshelf....
I started reading romance when I was around 12 or 13. I was babysitting for a neighbor who gave me free run of her bookshelves. Most of them were Harlequin Romances. I started out on authors like Margaret Way and Violet Winspear. I also read alot of Barbara Cartland. As I got older I added authors like Bertrice Small and Nora Roberts.
Several years ago I gave the first of Nora Roberts' Three Sisters trilogy to my daughter, as I thought she would enjoy it. Now she is as voracious a romance reader as I am. She is frequently asked "Does your mom know you read that stuff?" to which she replies "Who do you think got me started?!"
I learned awhile ago that I needed to keep track of what I've read and purchased. I now use a program called BookCat to track my books. I also list my books on Goodreads, LibraryThing, and FictionDB.